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Detroit Free Press Business Writer

Who is Raj Nair? Title: Group vice president, Global Product Development Age: 48 Education: Bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Kettering University in Flint. Personal: Married to Wendy; two daughters ages Jessica, 8, and Samantha, 19

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Alan Mulally gets the Wall Street love, Bill Ford has built an admirable legacy, but much of Ford’s success in the next five years rests on the slight shoulders of Raj Nair.

Nair, 48, is head of the automaker’s global product development. He oversees about 20,000 Ford engineers, designers and suppliers around the world to create the vehicles that succeed the Fusion, Focus, F-150 and other models on the road today. Beyond that he must launch vehicles of all shapes and sizes that expand Ford’s appeal in Europe, China, India and South America.

“What he does affects the bottom line of the company,” said analyst Dave Sullivan of AutoPacific.

It’s a tall order, and Nair has already made some personal tradeoffs. A devoted pilot, Nair is trying to sell his experimental airplane. In his younger days he raced go-carts, Formula Ford and Formula 2000 cars, but he hasn’t raced competitively in a while. He squeezes an occasional ride on his Yamaha R1 motorcycle into his frenetic schedule, but these days Nair gets his adrenaline rush overseeing Ford’s future product portfolio.

Not all the fun is gone. He gets to drive his own Shelby GT500 and test Ford’s upcoming vehicles on the automaker’s Dearborn test track.

Nair wasn’t always motivated by the vision of a desk job with an important title.

“I went through the phases of wanting to be an astronaut and a racecar driver. I’ve always been interested in cars,” Nair said.

But for a twist of fate he very easily could have wound up on the cross-town team.

Nair grew up in the St. Louis area and was groomed in General Motors’ farm system. He graduated from Kettering University (formerly General Motors Institute) and would have sought a job at a truck plant near his hometown until GM closed it the year Nair graduated.

“GM wasn’t really hiring people and Ford was,” he said.

Today, Nair, who is married with daughters ages 8 and 19, has done everything from run a plant to lead purchasing then more recently heading product development in Europe, India and China.

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He spent almost three years in Ford’s Asia-Pacific operations centralizing product development, manufacturing, purchasing and quality in a region where every country had operated separately.

“It’s your dream job until you get it,” Nair said of his current post that he began in April 2012, after his mentor and predecessor Derrick Kuzak retired. “Then it’s ‘What was I thinking?’ ”

The biggest surprise was discovering how much time Kuzak spent meeting with dealers, media and others outside the engineering world.

“Now I know why he looked tired,” Nair said.

The global scope of his duties and the scale of Ford’s products are daunting.

In North America, Ford is in the midst of replacing models that account for 80% of its U.S. sales. That includes the Fusion, Escape, Fiesta, the C-Max hybrid family, the Transit commercial van, the next-generation Mustang and F-150 pickup.

The brunt of Ford’s new products will arrive in late 2014 and early 2015. The pace slows again in the 2016 model year and then picks up for 2017 models with a new Explorer, Taurus, Focus and Expedition.

In Europe, Ford is closing plants and expanding its product lineup in hopes of making a profit by 2015. The company expects to lose $2 billion on the continent this year.

In South America, Ford is replacing regional vehicles with global ones, amid a volatile period in Brazil’s economy.

And in Asia, Ford has seven plants under construction and an aggresive rollout of new vehicles — 15 for China alone by 2015.

Nair is continuing the plans laid out by Kuzak but he will bear the market’s judgment, especially on the 2015 F-150 and the Mustang.

Mulally also has ordered greater focus on quality, something that has slipped as the automaker has introduced more technology in its vehicles.

EcoBoost engines, hybrids and a new dual-clutch transmission have been introduced to improve fuel economy but there have also been recalls, lawsuits and complaints associated with the new technology.

There have also been complaints and lawsuits about the MyFord Touch infotainment system which continues to undergo software upgrades with another due this summer. Ford is also restoring buttons and knobs as it redesigns new models.

Nair said he knows what needs to be done and is tackling it. Even if it means no time for his airplane, racecar and other toys.